Non Aussie Melbournian needing New Caledonia Visa

[DT1304]

Hi,

 

I am not an Australian citizen yet, and will require a visa for New Caledonia. The problem I have is that I have to apply in person, in Sydney for this visa.

 

And although I will be travelling to Sydney in June, I only cruise on 30 December and I can only apply for the visa within 3 months of departure from Australia.

 

Has anyone had any experience with this situation? Di I have to plan another trip with my family to Sydney just to get the visa?

 

I will be applying for Australian citizenship, but can only apply for this in a few months time, and am worried that I wont get the citizenship approved and an Australian passport issued fast enough to travel on my Aussie passport, with which no visa is required.

[orchardm1]

Let me guess?? P & O have told you that they are not permitted to give advice on Visas, and various web sites tell you to get a visa from the French consulate. We just got off of the Jewel this morning and the freinds we travelled with (Colombians), were told the same thing, in fact they had to visit P&O in North Sydney head office, to finally find out that NOBODY needs a visa to visit Noumea or any of the islands. All passengers are covered by P&O's "IN TRANSIT VISA". Call them tomorrow and mention the in transit visa and they will confirm this. P&O are useless, they are allowed to give visa advice, they just cant be bothered, similarly the French embassy website gives the wrong info.

 

Good luck

[DT1304]

No mate, I have booked with rcl and was told by my travel agent that I need a visa.

 

I then checked the websites and it was confirmed that I need a visa. I am traveling on a south African passport.

 

I will keep checking but either way I hope to have obtained my Australian passport by the time I leave.

[diy dave]

If you are only visiting for a day on a cruise ship orchardm1 is correct. Nobody checks passports or visas in noumea or vila

[icat2000]

I would take the time off get to Sydney and get the visa. Better safe than sorry. If you don't want to do that, look to change your cruise.

 

Otherwise see if you can speed up your Australian passport application.

[barnsey1802]

Hi,

 

My husband travels with a British passport. When he first got his passport he had to go up to sydney to get his visa, but when renewered his passport he got his visa through the post. It is a re entry visa. He needs it to get back in to the country.

 

Deidre.

[diy dave]

Yes, that's the only visa you will definitely have to get, a re-entry visa

[Shiprobbo]

If you are only visiting for a day on a cruise ship orchardm1 is correct. Nobody checks passports or visas in noumea or vila

 

Sorry, but this is actually really bad advice. I was on Pacific Dawn arriving in Noumea when all non-Australian passport holders were required to report to the Bengal Bar, the authorities refused to clear the ship until all these passangers had been seen. If they did not have a visa the were stopped from going ashore. Might not happen every time, but clearly it does happen. I have also had my passport checked going ashore in Noumea.

 

Out of interest, what passport is the OP sailing on? If a Euro issued one, then a visa may not be needed, given that New Caledonia is a part of France. I would actually check with the New Caledonian authorities not the cruise companies, requirements can change from time to time and best to get the information from a reliable source.

[DT1304]

I mean no disrespect and am grateful for all advice I receive on these forums, but I agree that some of the advice I have been given in this thread is bad advice.

 

I am traveling on a south African passport and was advised by my travel agent as well as new Caledonian authorities both online and at the recent travel expo in Melbourne that south African passport do in fact require a visa.

 

I am not prepared to take the risks, and provided my Australian citizenship does not come through in time, I will be making the trip to Sydney to obtain visas.

 

Thanks again for all the advice.

[diy dave]

I mean no disrespect and am grateful for all advice I receive on these forums, but I agree that some of the advice I have been given in this thread is bad advice.

 

I am traveling on a south African passport and was advised by my travel agent as well as new Caledonian authorities both online and at the recent travel expo in Melbourne that south African passport do in fact require a visa.

 

I am not prepared to take the risks, and provided my Australian citizenship does not come through in time, I will be making the trip to Sydney to obtain visas.

 

Thanks again for all the advice.

 

If you were given all the correct advice, why on earth did you ask people on this forum for their personal experience which is all we can do ????

[The_Big_M]

If you were given all the correct advice, why on earth did you ask people on this forum for their personal experience which is all we can do ????

 

Sounded like he was asking if anyone had experience with other options to get the visa, aside from flying to Sydney for a second time...

[cjm66]

Sounded like he was asking if anyone had experience with other options to get the visa, aside from flying to Sydney for a second time...

 

A valid ask. There are services that will act as your agent to get you a visa. I did a search but could not find one to help the OP with a visa for New Caledonia with a Sth African passport.

 

Colleen

[antipodean99]

try www.visalink.com.au

 

but hang on, aren't you paying your TA to do that for you already?

surely engaging them will be cheaper than a trip to Sydney .

[Neil R.]

Hi All - You will need a Visa. When you check in the Shipping Company takes your Passport Details (They scan it), and the company is required to lodge a manifest with all the passengers details to the Customs Authorities before the vessel arrives. Therefore, when you check in and they scan your passport, it will come up on there system that you are on a South African Passport and will require a visa. Normally, if there is no Visa in your passport, they will not let you board.

 

Trust me - you are going to want to take a cheep flight to Sydney and get your visa!

 

Good luck

[thied]

Hi,

 

I am not an Australian citizen yet, and will require a visa for New Caledonia. The problem I have is that I have to apply in person, in Sydney for this visa.

 

And although I will be travelling to Sydney in June, I only cruise on 30 December and I can only apply for the visa within 3 months of departure from Australia.

 

Has anyone had any experience with this situation? Di I have to plan another trip with my family to Sydney just to get the visa?

 

I will be applying for Australian citizenship, but can only apply for this in a few months time, and am worried that I wont get the citizenship approved and an Australian passport issued fast enough to travel on my Aussie passport, with which no visa is required.

as you are not an Australian citizen you will need a visa to get back into Australia.

[orchardm1]

DT1304, I assure you my advice is absolutely spot on. I am an Aussie citizen and have 3 kids, our Colombian freinds offered to have one of our kids in their room so that we did not have to book an extra cabin. Just 3 weeks before we were due to leave our freinds were informed they needed a visa for New Caledonia. This advice was given to them by incompetent P&O staff, and a website called Visalink and also the french consulate website. So they booked an appointment to apply for the visa via the french consulate website......you have to fill it in online and you are sent an automated reply with a date for them to attend.......now heres the problem, they filled in the form with a departure date of Feb 24 2012 and were given an appointment date of .....wait for it......13th March 2012. Do you see the problem there......it also states on the website that you are not to call as its all automated. We were actually all facing having to cancel our trip, so we went to the french consulate in Sydney and they refused to see us, saying we needed to follow procedure, then out of desperation we drove up to P&O head office in North Sydney and told them the situation and somebody actually bothered to look a bit deeper which is when they recited from their handbook, "ALL P&O PASSENGERS ARE COVERED BY P&O's IN TRANSIT VISA. AS LONG AS AN OVERNIGHT STAY IS NOT INVOLVED. IT IS ONLY APPLICABLE TO VESSELS ARRIVING BY SEA".

 

All it will cost you is the price of a phone call to P&O head office, we did not believe P&O either so they actually sent my Colombian freind an email confirming what they'd told us and that if there were any issues upon check in we should show them the email and just recite "P&O IN TRANSIT VISA" and then when i got back home, just to double check i rang P&O and asked if a Colombian would need a visa and sure enough after checking they said YES they do need a visa, then i asked them to look up IN TRANSIT VISA in their handbook and surprise surprise they dont actually need a visa....the P&O consultant actually thanked me as she'd learned something today.

 

Seriously mate its the best thing to do, if you do try and get an appointment just wait and see all of the info the French will ask of you....they are so pedantic, the list is HUGE, they will even want a letter from your employer stating that your wife is actually your wife......WHY !!!!

 

Just call P&O mate......good luck.......oh and by the way we and the Colombians just got back yesterday from a wonderful cruise on the Jewel to New Caledonia and the Islands, no problems at all with passports or visas.

 

OH also i will try to find the email that P&O sent and post it on here

[orchardm1]

as you are not an Australian citizen you will need a visa to get back into Australia.

 

DT1304 You also mentioned that you will be applying for Aussie Citizenship quite soon, does that mean you are already a permanent resident? If this is the case you already have a valid Aussie visa. The only thing you may need to get is a re entry visa to get back into Australia, you can get this from Melbourne

[orchardm1]

ALL,

Here is the email we received from P&O North Sydney..........

 

Dear Mr XXXXXX, We look forward to welcoming you on board the Pacific Jewel on the 24th of Febuaury 2012. In preparation of your cruise, please read the following in transit visa information.

 

For standard Pacific Island and New Zealand itineraries, all passport holders will not require a visa while they are in transit on the cruise. TRANSIT: When the ship is in "TRANSIT" it means that it will visit the port and leave without the cruise ending in that port. Passengers are then considered to be "in transit" so they will arrive with the ship and depart with the ship. Many countries have allowed cruise passengers to have an "in-transit" status therefore not needing any type of visa. Passengers do not need to remain onboard when in transit as long as they comply with the regulations of the country being visited. NOTE: The term "IN-TRANIST" here solely applies to Cruise Ships.

The term "IN-TRANSIT" used by Consulates/Embassies to describe a countries' entry visa requirements solely applies to passengers arriving/departing/transiting by airplane into the country. Rules and regulations for visa requirements between Airlines and Cruise Ships is different, so information provided by the Consulates may not necessarily apply to cruise ship passengers.

Once again, we look forward to welcoming you on board the Pacific Jewel for what promises to be a memorable cruise. if you have any questions regarding this information please contact our Sales & Service Department on the following number 13 24 94.

 

Yours sincerely,

P&O Cruises Australia.

[DT1304]

Thanks again for all the advice.

 

I did not mean to upset or offend by saying that I felt the advice was not the best.

 

What I meant in the original question was has anyone had experience getting a visa when they are not in Sydney.

 

As for the re entry into Aus, yes, I am a permanent resident with a residence visa. I have travelled out the country a few times since arriving 4 years ago, and had no issues getting back.

 

I cant use my travel agency to get the visa as I have booked through a travel agency in South Africa as I got the best service and rates from them.

 

I will give Royal Carib a call and ask them too, as well as the New Caledonia embassy etc etc. (Anyone that will take my calls in fact) to try get as much extra confirmation as possible.

 

Either way, I am still hoping that I will have an Australian passport by then. I already qualify, but can not send in my application until I hear back from South African Home affairs regarding dual citizenship, and I can hear back from them anytime between now and July.

[diy dave]

Hope you get it sorted and have a rollicking good cruise. A bit late, but welcome to Australia too.

[thied]

Non-citizen permanent residents

Australian permanent residents, former permanent residents and former Australian citizens must hold a valid permanent visa to return (or ‘leave and return’) to Australia as permanent residents.

 

If you do not hold a valid visa for re-entry to Australia you may be refused entry to Australia or have your entry delayed until your identity and claims to enter Australia have been verified.

 

If you migrated to Australia in 1987 or later, your initial visa gives permission to return to Australia for up to five years. After that, if you want to return to Australia as a permanent resident you must hold a valid visa, such as a Resident Return visa (RRV).

 

Permanent residents in Australia should ensure they have a RRV that will allow them to re-enter Australia, before leaving Australia.

 

If you migrated to Australia between 1 March 1976 and 31 December 1986, you may have been issued with an Authority to Return (ATR) or a Return Endorsement (RE). ATRs and REs remain valid so long as the holder has not stayed away from Australia for more than three years and has not become an Australian citizen.

 

ATR and RE holders may be eligible for a free initial visa label of their original visa. The ATR or RE will be evidenced in your passport with the code BF-111. ATR and RE holders should not apply for a RRV.

 

Grant of a substantive visa

In general, the granting of any substantive visa will automatically cease any visas you currently hold, except for the granting of an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) or a Border (subclass 773) visa.

 

If you:

 

•are overseas and you hold a current permanent visa (regardless whether or not you have a visa label endorsed in your passport), you should not apply for a visitor visa or authorise someone else to apply for a visitor visa on your behalf without first contacting the nearest departmental office.

•hold an ATR or RE, you should not apply for a RRV. If you apply for a RRV and your application is approved, the granting of a RRV will legally cease your ATR or RE.

 

 

 

http://www.immi.gov.au/migrants/residents/return-documents.htm

[thied]

If you are only visiting for a day on a cruise ship orchardm1 is correct. Nobody checks passports or visas in noumea or vila

They/French customs do random passport checks in Noumea, this done by the cruise ship, where theythe ship will get a list from the french and then the ships staff will contact every one on the list to hand in there pass port to the help desk.

[DT1304]

They/French customs do random passport checks in Noumea, this done by the cruise ship, where theythe ship will get a list from the french and then the ships staff will contact every one on the list to hand in there pass port to the help desk.

 

Yeah,

 

perhaps I made the wrong choice of words when I said "bad advice"

 

I just dont want to take the chance of having a good holiday ruined in the case that I am one of the unlucky ones they check.

[orchardm1]

Yeah,

 

perhaps I made the wrong choice of words when I said "bad advice"

 

I just dont want to take the chance of having a good holiday ruined in the case that I am one of the unlucky ones they check.

 

 

It doesn't matter if the French officials do board the boat and ask to see passports, they did it on our boat, its just an exercise, its a way of them generating a little bit of income. Its merely a fronting up exercise. Every single person on the P&O cruise ship, man, woman, child, captain, cleaner and cook, no matter which nationality or race.......every single soul on board a P&O cruise ship to New Caledonia is covered under the "IN TRANSIT VISA"........did you not read the email that i was sent about 4 or 5 posts ago yesterday. It'll seriously save you so much grief, just call the cruise line, dont call your travel agent, they dont actually know. Dont call the French consulate or embassy......firstly they will refuse to talk to you, and if they do, they'll tell you that you do need a visa. Call the cruise compant that you are travelling with and ask them if the ship you will be travelling on is covered under an "IN TRANSIT VISA" It'll take you ten minutes to do it.......if i'm wrong, you'll have wasted 10 minutes and a couple of bucks on the call.........if im right it'll save you a small fortune.

[DT1304]

I will call them mate.

 

Thanks